July 25, 2008

iParty Earnings Down 64 Percent

Consolidated revenues declined 1.5 percent to $20.4 million for the quarter ending June 28. Sales at stores open at least a year fell 2.8 percent.

CEO Sal Perisano said second-quarter sales were hurt by the early Easter holiday, which shifted sales into the first quarter. While customer traffic has decreased slightly during the economic downturn, average transaction amounts increased. iParty's core birthday party merchandise category remains strong, and the company saw a boost in sales from the Celtics' win in the NBA Finals.

Two other medical office buildings on the site are fully permitted, and construction of the first is underway with an anticipated October opening.

high court rules in malpractice case

BOSTON - The state's highest court has ruled that doctors can be held liable for negligence that reduces a patient's chance of survival, even if the patient's prospect for recovery was already less than 50 percent. The Supreme Judicial Court's ruling Wednesday came in a closely watched medical malpractice case. In 2004, a jury awarded $1 million to the family of a man whose stomach cancer was overlooked by a Norwood doctor. The doctor argued that there was no evidence that his actions substantially contributed to his patient's death.

The Hopkinton-based company earned $377.5 million, or 18 cents per share, in the April-June period. That compares with net income of $334.4 million, or 16 cents per share, in the year-ago period. EMC shares rose $1.71, or 13.7 percent, to $14.17 in trading Wednesday.

Stripping out one-time charges, EMC earned 24 cents per share in the latest quarter. That was 7 cents per share higher than the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.